


A Reason

by Vogelimkafig120



Category: Fire Emblem Echoes: Mou Hitori no Eiyuu Ou | Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia, Fire Emblem Series
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Mentions of other characters - Freeform, Slight Humor, Takes Place About Four Years After The Events of Shadows of Valentia, a bit angsty, slight romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-01
Updated: 2019-04-01
Packaged: 2019-12-30 07:14:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,102
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18310760
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Vogelimkafig120/pseuds/Vogelimkafig120
Summary: Clair wakes up in the middle of the night due to suffering from a reoccurring nightmare that involves Gray losing his life.





	A Reason

**Author's Note:**

> I'm back at it with another Gray x Clair fic! It's based on a discussion that a friend and I had a while back. Anyway, please enjoy! ^_^

_Clair found herself in a battlefield, separated away from her comrades as she had to deal with a band of brigands, each of them eager to strike their weapons onto her. Gripping her lance tightly, she instructed her pegasus to let loose on their foes, with her disposing each of them with such elegance._

_“You force my hand!” Clair yelled out, panting a bit after surveying the outcome._

_She patted her pegasus for a job well done, letting it take a break as she hopped out. Although her time as a member of the Deliverance had led her to get accustomed to the stench of battle and death, it didn’t mean that it had not taken a toll on her psyche, even after becoming a knight of the One Kingdom of Valentia. Nevertheless, if those would dare to hurt those of the kingdom, then Clair would defend them with her dear life._

_However, the pegasus knight failed to notice that one of the brigands had managed to survive her onslaught, stumbling back to his feet with his sword held shakenly. The myrmidon furrowed his eyebrows, his teeth clenching in rage after what she did to his comrades._

_When Clair turned around, she saw the myrmidon charge towards her. She and her pegasus didn’t have enough time to react as the blade became embedded in her chest, or so she thought._

_After opening her eyes, she witnessed Gray standing in front of her, though the blade happened to be impaled on his chest instead. The moment Gray collapsed onto the ground had caused Clair’s world to crumble down completely._

_“Gray!” she screamed in distraught, her mouth left agape._

_Furious, Clair retaliated back at the myrmidon who attempted to make a dash away from the duo, but the latter found himself stabbed in the back, the lance prodding through where his heart was located. It didn’t take long until the life was withered away from the unlucky assailant._

_Clair’s attention was then brought back to Gray’s predicament as she saw him writing in pain. She rushed back to his side, gently holding him in her arms, her tears daring to burst out._

_“Y-you fool. Just why did you d-do that?” she gasped, her body becoming stained with his blood._

_“H-hey, you’re safe, and that’s all that matters to me.” Gray replied calmly, slowly smiling at her._

_“Don’t you dare do this to me, too! We’re getting you out of here, and then you’ll be patched up.” she stated adamantly, refusing to endure the same pain that had befallen onto her when Fernand passed away._

_The mercenary merely chuckled, his eyes half-shut. If it meant that his life would be taken away in order to ensure hers, then it was all worth the effort for him._

_“I-I feel sleepy.” he muttered as he was beginning to lose too much blood._

_Soon, Clair noticed that Gray was unresponsive, his eyes closed completely. Desperate, she began to shake his body slightly, hoping to garner a reaction from him but with no luck._

_“Gray?” she tried calling out to him to no avail, “…Gray!”_

Clair’s eyes shot up, rising her torso from the bed as she was breathing heavily. Once her senses came back, she realized that the whole event was a dream, though it felt so surreal. Hot tears poured down her face but she was quick to wipe them away. From a distance, she spotted her daughter Celine slumbering on her wooden crib. The pegasus knight then turned to her right and saw her husband Gray sleeping in peace, as though what he was dreaming was juxtaposing to her own.

“Gray.” Clair whispered in relief.

She quickly settled herself back to the bed, wrapping her arms around her husband’s limp arm. The events from that day had never faltered from her mind, as if it was tormenting her to no end. Somehow, she feared that letting go of him would cause him to disappear from her grasp, thus leading to tightening her hold on his arm.

Before she could go back to sleep, Gray began to mumble something inaudibly until he woke up and noticed his current position.

“Clair?” he yawned afterwards, sobering up, “for what reason are you clutching my arm like that?”

He was only met with no response as she continued to remain in her position, sniffing back tears as a result.

“I’m guessing you must’ve had a nightmare,” he assumed as he laid back down with her, bringing her face up in order to meet his. “Do you want to talk about it?”

“It was about you again,” she simply stated, burying her face on his shoulder, “I know, it’s foolish to hear.”

The mercenary nodded his head sideways, understanding the trauma that his wife had to go thru back then. Truth be told, he was plagued by nightmares of his own demise, often the final image being Clair screaming his name out before waking up.

“Why would I think of you as a fool for voicing your concerns? Doesn’t matter if it has happened before, I’ll always listen to you, Clair.” he replied as he rubbed circles around her back to calm her down.

After some time, Clair decided to lighten the hold on her husband’s arm, though she still kept her gaze at him despite the tears leaking once more. For comfort, Gray broke her grip and quickly grabbed both of her hands, rubbing them soothingly. 

“Every time, I find myself on that same battlefield, and you dying in my arms,” she started before turning to the other direction, “it was too vivid to the point that I believed that your life was truly taken away from m-me.”

It seemed as though a knife had jabbed through Gray’s heart upon knowing the full extent of his wife’s distress. Since then, he promised to watch himself on the battlefield, a far cry from his previous battle tactics. But at times, the mercenary couldn’t help but ponder on how reckless he could get.

And so, Gray then enveloped Clair into a hug, assuring her that he was alive and well, and of no chance of leaving both hers and their child’s side.

“Welp, I ain’t that easy in getting rid of. But really, though. You’re not alone on this because we have each other, and so does everyone else. Not saying so because of what Clive would do to me but it’s because we care about you, Clair.” Gray affirmed, flashing Clair a cocky smile.

“If only I was blessed with some of that confidence, then maybe I wouldn’t be in such turmoil.” the pegasus knight commented, a somber smile casting on her face.

“That’s the thing, it’s been happening to me as well, you know.” the mercenary admitted, causing Clair to be bring her attention back to him.

“For how long, if I may ask?” she whispered softly.

With a sigh, Gray set his sight on the ceiling, his arm still wrapped around Clair’s frame.

“Just recent, actually. It kinda went how yours did. You yelled my name out before the dream ended, but it had a lasting effect on me. I’ve been wanting to talk to you about it but I just didn’t want to worry you any further. Then again, as you’d say, it’s hypocritical of me to do so.” Gray confessed as he felt his own tears attempting to prickle out of his eyes.

The revelation shocked Clair because she assumed that he was fine and immune from being dwelled with thoughts from that day. Seeing him teary was also a rare sight for her, but it begged the question on just how long he was holding it in. She wouldn’t dare to judge him for his emotions, of course.

“Yes, it would concern me but I’d do my best to assist you,” she badgered him slightly before comforting him, “it’s not healthy in keeping such negative thoughts to yourself.”

“Yeah, of course. Guess I just need to do better at explaining stuff to you.” he answered, grinning at her.

“It seems the same can go to me. We’ll—” suddenly, Clair was interrupted by the cries of a baby coming from their room.

Both parents risen from their bed as they made way to the crib, finding their daughter awake along with her cries perpetuating. Clair proceeded to cradle their baby in her arms, rocking in a soothing manner. Gray merely stood by his wife’s side as he saw Celine beginning to calm herself, babbling in the process once she found both of her parents in view.

“Hey, little buddy. Fancy seeing you up this late at night.” Gray greeted their daughter, much to Clair’s amusement.

“You seem to be famished,” Clair concluded as she motioned herself back to the bed before sitting down, with Gray joining her afterwards, “don’t worry, my sweet angel.”

Clair had adjusted her nightgown slightly so that Celine would have better access to be fed. During that time, Gray began to remember on why his life held so much value. He needed to be a beacon of support for his friends and family, especially to Celine as her life would progress further. He wondered of the day in which he would lay down his sword and simply settle into a quiet life with Clair and Celine. Even after having a child, Clair refused to back down, and he supported her decision to the fullest despite numerous attempts from the Brotherhood for her to reconsider.

“That’s also why I’ve been careful lately.” Gray muttered out as he wrapped his arm around Clair’s waist.

“Care to share?” she asked curiously as she continued to feed their child.

“Being gone for good won’t do any wonders to anyone, especially to her,” the mercenary replied back, his attention fixated on their daughter, “I want to see her grow, and ya know, teach her a thing or two about sword fighting.”

“The last thing I want for our child is to be invested in combat, but I understand the meaning of your words,” the pegasus knight countered until a humorous thought came across her mind, “though that begs the question if she’d destroy a fence as well. Like father, like daughter.”

Gray began to burst out laughing until Clair motioned for him to settle down in order to thwart another crying fit from Celine.

“Sorry about that. But I guess I’ll have to place bets with Alm on whose child would break a fence first. Though I have my money placed on Celine.” he commented, bringing up a distant memory of when he and Alm managed to destroy a part of a fence when they were young.

As time went by, both parents simply marveled at their daughter, watching her coo and giggle in joy. It seemed as though Celine’s presence could bring Gray and Clair at peace in an instant.

“Look at Celine, Gray,” Clair whispered softly, rocking her child in a gentle manner, “isn’t she such a ray of hope?”

“Based on the name that you gave her, yeah, she sure is,” Gray agreed as he brought his fingers to Celine’s head, tentatively trailing around her short black hair, “though when the time comes, I wanna be able to choose our next child’s name.”

His slip up had caused the pegasus knight to giggle, a smirk forming on her face afterwards.

“Oh, I wasn’t expecting you to be eager to bring up the topic of wanting more children. Not stating that I’m against it.” she replied coyly.

“K-keyword, when the time comes.” he repeated as his face felt red.

“So you say.” she muttered, focusing her attention on Celine.

Spending time with Celine made the two forget about their struggles from early on, but they would assure themselves to lean to each other more for comfort and support. They would also ensure that Celine and other hopeful children of their own would live a life free from the horrors of war and despair. Though if Gray and Clair are called out to the battlefield out of dear necessity to protect the One Kingdom of Valentia, then so be it.

“Do tell, what names do you have in mind for our hypothetical child?” Clair asked.

“Too early to ask, but I’ll be sure to come up with one. You’ll like it, I’m sure.” Gray pointed out, much to his wife’s dismay.

“It’s impolite to keep a lady waiting.” she pouted as Celine began to sleep yet again.

“As you say,” he said, bringing Clair closer to him, their eyes directed at their daughter, “patience is a virtue.”  


End file.
